


Ice Dragon of Solitude

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: Rare Ships Creation Challenge [30]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel's In Love With Humanity, Dragon Deal, Fantasy AU, Last of His Kind, M/M, Sam Does Something Ridiculous and Over The Top to Save Dean's Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 15:45:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11626719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Castiel chose to remain with the humans when the other dragons left.  He doesn't regret it, but it is a very lonely life.





	Ice Dragon of Solitude

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Rare Ships Creations Challenge Round 11: Bad Dragon  
> Prompt (NSFW!): [Kelvin the Ice Dragon](http://bad-dragon.com/products/kelvin)

Castiel was lonely. The dragons had left Earth, claiming it was too dangerous to remain now that humans had guns and could shoot them down. Castiel had chosen to remain. He didn’t fear the humans, even with their new guns, nor did he fit in with the dragons. He’d spent more time on Earth than any other dragon, hovering in the sky and just watching.

Humans fascinated him. They were so… varied. Dragons were much the same in most ways. If you saw an ice dragon, you’d have a good idea what to expect. Humans, not so much. There were broad categories, but you couldn’t always tell what category a given human was.

If you saw a warrior, chances were they were trying to kill you. Some for noble reasons – mistakenly believing the dragon was a threat to their community, or rescuing a human who had come to live with the dragon for a time. Some were truly malicious – they knew dragons had no interest in harming humans, but wanted them dead anyway. These were usually the humans responsible for the noble warriors coming to do the deed. Castiel’s least favorite were the ones who thought it sounded like a good adventure. Their killings were senseless. At least with evil, he could understand. Castiel could not understand the drive to kill a sentient creature for no other reason than “because it’s there”.

Scholars were different. They would come to watch the dragons, and to study them. They were often too timid to approach, and just drew conclusions from their observations. A few of the less cautious and more friendly dragons had tried approaching them, most often to find them fleeing. All too often, to then find warriors coming for them.

Artists were similar to the scholars in that they came to watch the dragons for inspiration but weren’t interested in interacting or truly getting close to a dragon. However, when approached, artists were usually a little more open to at least sticking around to see what the dragon wanted. Every so often, an artist could be persuaded to befriend a dragon. The dragon served as a muse for the artist, and the artist would sometimes provide tribute to the dragon.

Naturally, there were the mundane. These were the humans who for one reason or another avoided dragons. They went about their lives, working the farms, or the mines, or a forge, and never going further than the nearest town or occasionally perhaps the city. Most humans were in this category. Just as most dragons were content to remain in their lairs, venturing out only for supplies or socialization.

Castiel’s favorites were the explorers. These were the curious lot. They would walk right into a dragon’s lair for no reason other than “because it’s there”, like a warrior – but their goal was to meet the dragon and try to talk to it. Unlike the scholars, who hung back to draw their own conclusions, they wanted to hear from the dragons. They were eager to share their own experiences. The problem with explorers was that they rarely made it back home – not because the dragons did anything to them, but because they were curious about more than just dragons and ran afoul of bad weather, poor terrain, or non-sentient wildlife.

Now that the dragons were gone, except for Castiel, the humans had stopped believing in dragons. Castiel hadn’t spoken to anyone in nearly a hundred years. He’d always liked solitude, preferring to watch and observe from afar, but now it was weighing on him. He missed Balthazar and Anna and his friends among the dragons. It was possible Gabriel was out there somewhere, but if so, he’d been in hiding for so long that Castiel had no idea how to find him.

 

The noise outside his lair startled him. A voice – a human voice – speaking the language of the dragons. The accent was horrible, an obvious sign of never having heard the language spoken properly, but Castiel could understand it.

The human was reciting a spell, one that would compel a dragon to show itself and speak. Castiel loved the irony. “Human. There is no need. What brings you to the lair of a myth?”

The human jumped to his feet. “You’re real? Wow! I didn’t think… this was a last-hope attempt… um. Right. My name’s Sam Winchester, and my brother’s dying of something that the physicians and witches I’ve spoken to can’t do anything about. One of them told me that according to legend, before the dragons left our world, they could heal things that humans couldn’t – and that according to legend, a dragon had lived in this area. My brother’s all I’ve got. I’ll do whatever you ask, if you can heal him.”

Castiel hummed. He could probably heal the human’s brother. “What were you thinking you could do for me?”

“Honestly? I have no idea. I’ve already told you I don’t have anything worth trading, and if you’ve been out here on your own for the last hundred years, what could you possibly want or need from a human? If there is something, I’ll do whatever I can.”

It was true. He didn’t need a human to bring him food, he’d never really been interested in treasure like others had, Castiel had everything he needed taken care of already. He’d never wanted much. “Do you think you could bring your brother here? I’d prefer not to go to a human settlement. It wouldn’t take long until one of your warriors took it into their head to claim a rare prize.”

“I can do that. I’ll return as quickly as we can.”

 

That turned out to be seven days. The whole time, Castiel wracked his brain trying to come up with some form of payment. He couldn’t think of anything.

Sam’s brother Dean’s illness turned out to be trivial for an ice dragon to cure. A virus had set a fire in his flesh. “Do not fear for your brother, Sam. I can cure this. It will look a bit odd to you, but I promise, it will bring no further harm to him and when it’s done, he will be cured.”

Sam nodded and stepped away from his unconscious brother. Castiel breathed over Dean, encasing him in a coat of ice. Sam started to protest, but held his tongue at a reproachful glare from Castiel. As the ice melted away from Dean, Castiel could feel it taking the virus and the fire with it. Dean sat up as the last of the ice melted. “Where the hell… Sammy? What did you do?”

“Dean.” Sam dropped to his knees beside his brother. “Dean, are you all right? How do you feel?”

“Soaked. Cold. Where are we?”

“We’re… you’re not going to believe this. I found a dragon and he saved your life.”

“Dammit, Sam. What crappy deal did you have to make? Not like we’ve got anything a dragon would want…”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t told me what the price is yet. Whatever it is, it’s worth it.” Sam got to his feet and faced Castiel. “What do you ask as payment?”

“I…” Castiel looked at the brothers, trying to think fast. Payment was necessary, but he couldn’t come up with anything.

Sam, sensing his confusion, looked down at his brother. “Dean, don’t be mad at me for this. I had to do it. You’d do the same for me.”

“Sammy, what are you doing?” Dean scrambled to his feet. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Castiel, I spoke with Bobby, the witch who told me about you. He suggested that the one thing you couldn’t provide for yourself was companionship, and that being here alone for so long must have been lonely. I can’t replace your own kind, but I think I can be better than nothing… if I stay here, keep you company, would that be enough?”

“One year. Stay with me for one year, and then your debt will be fulfilled. Dean, if you’d like to stay, you can, but my deal was with your brother. You owe me nothing. You’re free to stay here, to leave and never return, or to come visit your brother if you’d like during the year.

 

Dean chose to leave, coming back once a month to make sure that Castiel was taking proper care of Sam and to deliver messages from the outside world to Sam and from Sam to people in the settlement. Sam proved to be a scholar more than anything else, but he was a capable warrior, and had an explorer’s heart. As the end of the year approached, Castiel grew quieter. He couldn’t bring himself to regret the deal. This past year with Sam had been the best year since before the dragons had left, possibly the best year Castiel had ever had on Earth, and as sorry as he was that it was drawing to an end, he couldn’t regret having had it. Nor could he regret that he’d agreed to let Sam go. Sam was human; he belonged with other humans.

Sam left with Dean after his twelfth visit. Castiel tried to return to his quiet life of solitude, but he struggled. His lair was too quiet. Too big. Too cold.

A month later, there was a quiet voice. “Castiel?”

Castiel poked his head up. Sam was there, with Dean, looking incredibly nervous. “Sam? Are you or Dean ill again?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Not in any normal sense of the word.”

Sam turned and gave his brother an unimpressed look. “Sort of. It’s been a long time since anyone’s ever actually had dealings with dragons, so we’ve kind of lost track of any good reliable information about what happens, but I struggled a lot going back to the human world. From what Bobby and I could find, it sounded like this was rare even back in the day when humans and dragons interacted regularly, but some humans were susceptible to… the stories weren’t exactly clear, but there were tales of humans who spoke with dragons and were never content among humans afterward. We think that’s what’s happened to me. Dean and Bobby and I talked it over, and they’re going to keep looking, but I was happy out here. It puts you at risk, having Dean coming and going, but if you wouldn’t mind me staying out here while Dean comes to visit once a month…”

“I would love that. Dean, you’re welcome to visit any time you like, and Sam, you’re free to leave at any time.”


End file.
